Chapter 11 of The purple sickle murders is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XI
Chapter 11 of The purple sickle murders is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby. “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked. “A nipper of about ten?” “That’s right, sir.” “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
Chapter 11 of The purple sickle murders is here in full — 233 sentences across 47 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/46 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading ““A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?””
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
a boy or man
From this reading ““A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?””
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
a young person of either sex
From this reading ““A nipper of about ten?””
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness
From this reading ““A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?””
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
anew
In this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
In this reading ““A nipper of about ten?””
In this reading “The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
(usually followed by “to”) having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “A nipper of about ten?”
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
a small piece or quantity of something
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
the cardinal number that is the sum of fourteen and one
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
a boy or man
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
a written account of what transpired at a meeting
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
a young person of either sex
From this reading “A nipper of about ten?”
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “A nipper of about ten?”
on one occasion
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
the male head of family or tribe
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
precisely, exactly
From this reading “That’s right, sir.”
100 senti equal 1 kroon in Estonia
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
any of several noncommissioned officer ranks in the Army or Air Force or Marines ranking above a corporal
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
term of address for a man
From this reading “That’s right, sir.”
showing mental alertness and calculation and resourcefulness
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
a male human offspring
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading “A nipper of about ten?”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “That’s right, sir.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Happy Paterfamilias Some fifteen minutes later he sent once more for Sergeant Ormsby.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “A smart lad, able to put through a bit of play-acting?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You have a son, haven’t you, Ormsby?” he asked.
Chapter 11 of The purple sickle murders by Freeman Wills Crofts holds 233 sentences, grouped into 47 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 11 holds 233 sentences of The purple sickle murders, unabridged, divided into 47 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 11 of The purple sickle murders by Freeman Wills Crofts exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 233 sentences, grouped into 47 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 47 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 47 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 11 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The purple sickle murders by Freeman Wills Crofts on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The purple sickle murders section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The purple sickle murders to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The purple sickle murders, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
